First Cleared on July 22nd, 2014 (Literally one day after it launched)
Recently Cleared on April 11th, 2023

Freedom Planet is a game that I've followed quite closely back in 2013. I discovered this game going down internet rabbit holes on trolls related to Sonic the Hedgehog who are long gone or irrelevant, and I was immediately invested. I played the demo and had a fun time.

When I heard it was going to be released as a full game, I got excited. I spent a lot of my 9th grade high school time thinking about it. I’ve kept up with news on the game, I’ve replayed the demo, and I was hoping the game would eventually catch on. The game, at the time, did not. But I wasn’t going to stop my excitement. When it finally came out on July 21st, 2014, I wasted no time getting into it. I installed it and spent a good amount of my week getting through all three characters, and it was worth the wait.

Freedom Planet is considered the spiritual successor to the 2D Sonic Games back before Sonic Mania was even announced. While I've always been more interested in the 3D Sonic games, I could not deny how amazing Freedom Planet looked and played. It felt more in-depth with its combat system and the other characters all felt fun to play with their own distinct style which allows you to approach levels and bosses in different angles. The three characters that you play as are Lilac the Dragon, Carol the Wildcat, and Milla the Hound.

Lilac the Dragon is the powerhouse that bears resemblance to Sonic except in place of the spindash, we have the Dragon Boost which was borrowed from Rocket Knight and, in my opinion, feels so much better to use because you don't have to stop to charge up speed. On top of being the fastest character in the game and having the extremely powerful Dragon Boost which propels you in six different directions, deals damage and gives you a few frames of invincibility, she also gets Cyclone which can be used to gain a little extra height and increase her horizontal distance while dealing damage in the way.

Carol the Wildcat is a more agile combatant of the three as her basic attacks although not as strong as Lilac's, is much faster. Her movement speed isn't as fast, but her strength over Lilac is being able to cover vertical distance much better than she can as she can climb up walls Mega Man X style. She can somersault like a traditional Sonic character could, Pounce to cover horizontal distance, Pounce + Claw combo for burst damage, and use her signature Wild Kick which lets her deal rapid damage while having invincibility. This aspect of Carol is so busted, for the record, that it might explain why they took it away from her in Freedom Planet 2 and gave her a new ability. The most notable thing about Carol, however, is that she can ride a motorcycle and by that point, she becomes even faster likely matching or even surpassing Lilac, at the least, having better initial acceleration. It gives her a double jump although it takes away her ability to Pounce. She also loses it upon taking damage with the exception of some bosses.

Milla is the explorer of the three. She is the slowest character and makes her the best character for taking in scenery and exploring, but even with her slow speed, she can be very strong in her own way. She can conjure a shield that deflects enemy projectiles, create a cube that she can either throw for long distance damage, or create a bigger shield and follow up with a massive blast that can hit multiple enemies. She can also flutter in the air. While that’s not impressive compared to what Lilac or Carol could do, it gives her much better air control in comparison.
That said, as fun as Milla is, she is very unbalanced. Her shield allows her to cheese aspects of the game that the other characters would find hellish, but Milla having much lower health means that she dies very easily. Milla has a high skill-ceiling compared to the other characters, and was even at one point considered a character of choice for speedrunners which might have to do with how her path is structured as a few segments could be considered shorter.

There were supposed to be two more characters that are playable being Torque and Spade. Torque would resemble a Gunstar Hero with a range of weaponry based on the colored orbs that he picked up, and Spade is a ranged fighter that darts around and throws cards at people. However, those two were "put on an indefinite hold" with future plans to give them their own side games instead. Kind of a shame since I was looking forward to seeing their stories unfold... that reminds me.

The story of this game is another aspect I was interested in, and it’s… interesting. The thing is, depending on who you ask, the story is either well-written and exciting, or sloggish with an inconsistent tone. Honestly, I've never really had a problem with the story's tone. Namely with the things the villain Brevon does, it was established in the intro that Brevon is a ruthless psychopath the moment that he beheaded the king of Shuigang, and even before the infamous Thermal Base cutscene, things were already getting really bad for the protagonists, anyway, and I've completely forgotten about the cootie joke that got removed in later patches in the game. And if we're going off the logic of tone inconsistency, I'd argue that Freedom Planet 2 is noteworthy sometimes in that regard and that story is praised by the same people who call Freedom Planet 1 "tonally inconsistent". I don't have a problem with Freedom Planet 2 in that regard, it's just something I wonder why people don't call into question. I think a far more pressing matter in regards to the story of Freedom Planet 1 is just the pacing as some cutscenes in the game can go on for a long while. Like I'm not even kidding when I say this, but Lilac's story alone has exactly 1 hour of cutscenes and she gets like 12 levels which could each go on for around 5-10 minutes depending on how skilled and knowledgeable you are at the game, and the cutscene to get from Level 2 to Level 3 takes like 13 minutes. If this sounds absurd, don't worry, you can just play Classic mode and ignore the story altogether.

The story is nowhere near as bad as other people say it is, but that's not to say I think the story is perfect and everybody doesn't get it. I have a few qualms with the story which include Neera Li's character, a misplaced dialogue where Lilac rants about ignorant leaders which could've been a lot better when said some time after Shang-Tu turned on Lilac and her friends, and some unanswered questions that came from the negative effect of putting Torque and Spade on an indefinite hold.

The thing that carried the story for me are the main cast, namely Lilac the Dragon. When revisiting the story, I thought maybe I was exaggerating when I believed Lilac to be one of my favorite characters in all of fiction, but when I went through it again, I realized she’s more than just one of my favorite characters, but my favorite heroine in all of fiction. It’s remarkable how she had stood the test of time in the face of new heroines because many of them are obnoxious brats like Frey (Forspoken) or just poorly written like Abbey (The Last of Us II). The writers understands that Lilac doesn’t have to sacrifice being compassionate and friendly in order to be strong. If anything, it’s because of how much Lilac cares that makes her more badass, and I think her ability to have fun and goof around gives an amazing contrast to just how pissed off she can be, making it all the more shocking. Think of it this way, when you see someone that’s usually angry get angry, you think “oh great, they’re at it again”, but when you see the person that’s usually fun and quirky get angry, you think “oh god”. Lilac is a character that can have fun with what she does, but quickly shift to serious mode when she knows the stakes. And yet Lilac is not a flawless Mary Sue character, she does display headstrong and stubborn tendencies even when her intentions are good, but it’s not overbearing like the average “stronk wooman”, and actually adds to the character that she is, the person she wants to be. A hero, and when you control her, you feel heroism and a rush to fight and save the world. And this is all just in the first game.
Anyway, Carol is funny although a bit annoying some times, and Milla is just a cute and sweet character. I don't really have as much else to say about them compared to Lilac, but they're good characters too.

Some other things I love about the game include it's visual presentation, and even now it still looks great for the developer's debut game. The music is also fantastic, and Battle Glacier in particular is an amazing song that invokes the feeling of triumph, and a final push against Brevon's armies.

The sequel may blow it out of the waters, but Freedom Planet 1 is still a good game and worth at a playthrough.

amazingly detailed presentation, from cleverly reusing assets to creatively using original ones, level design that never gets old, whether it's a gimmick or different terrain combinations that requires all of your character tools to be used effectively. with these different characters that encourage your own way of approaching the game. Each one being special in their own way. the game just screams pure fun and sense of comfort.

not only is it a good game in its own way, it also greatly enhances the flow of it's inspiration, Sonic, on a moment to moment basis. having an I-FRAMES on command move helps a lot when navigating levels at high speed, and when you don't have one, smart use of your other tools means you don't have unfortunate crashes that can cause frustration with the level.

if I could describe this game in a way that would entice anyone to give it a chance, it would be SONIC 3&K + MEGAMAN X, especially with its collision system. a pity that the storyline offered is a fucking embarrassment.

2D Sonic but good.

All jokes aside it's a very solid fast-paced platformer. I got more used to the combat as time went on and the level design is actually amazing. I agree with the critique that boss battles feel like they encourage the trial and error strategy but it didn't get frustrating until some of the endgame bosses.

Music is solid too but the worst parts of the game are definitely the voice acting and the somewhat basic script.

I still had a fun time with it and I hope to do a Carol and Milla run eventually or play the sequel.

This definitely is a game and it's kinda fun too. The mechanics can be fairly interesting and I feel it's the later stages that really start to push how creatively it can be used. With that said I think this game suffers a lot in terms of combat and unnecessary loads of enemies. Sometimes it feels like this game's main inspiration is a bad mega man x game but that isn't to say combat can't be fun. Some of the bosses I actually found fairly enjoyable...when they didn't insist on wasting time. That dragon boss is a prime example of a nothing encounter that just takes up time.I can see the appeal in the gameplay and maybe I'll like it more on a few level revisits.

I'd prefer to end there because this game's story falls into laughably bad and needlessly edgy with moments including torture and death that serve little to nothing but be there for shock value. Feels written by an edgy 14 year old and that's not great.

Freedom Planet overall, alright.

Freedom Planet is a fun game with a few issues that were hard for me to overlook.

It is a fun and very competent platformer. If you like classic Sonic games you will feel right at home here. The pixel art is crisp and vibrant with great animations. The overall visual presentation is just fantastic, it really looks like a classic Sega game. Likewise the soundtrack is great.

Mechanically it feels like Sonic but with tighter controls. You have better control over your characters than some of those classic games and movement feels good even when going pretty fast. Each character has unique mechanics that incentivize replaying the game with each of them. I think the developers did a good job of coming up with interesting ways to use your abilities as well.

The combat while fun suffers from multiple issues. There's often way too much enemy spam. Combine that with the laughably short iframes when you get hit and it's almost impossible not to take damage. Some enemies basically just rush straight towards you and there's no way to avoid them. I often felt like I had no choice but to damage boost through areas, and it was often easier just to run past enemies. Bosses also felt inconsistent. Their attack patterns are not well telegraphed, and I felt like I just had to keep dying until I could memorize the patterns.

The story is pretty cliche with mid to bad presentation. The voice acting and writing is very amateurish but you can tell a lot of heart went into making the game. Story is definitely not the draw of this game.

The game is probably not for everyone but even with its issues I enjoyed myself and would be interested in playing the sequel. Despite its flaws it's definitely worth a play if you enjoy 2d platformers and/or Sonic games.

it's competent, I love the graphics and music, and the characters are charming enough, but everything else is... rough, though it does show some promise that could be fleshed out properly in a sequel.
my main problem is with the combat, which often forces you to deal with swarm of enemies you can't see coming and force you to take unnecessary damage. plus the bosses are very frustrating, and I found myself constantly dying in the later parts of the game because I could not discern a boss' attack pattern.
the level design is serviceable, apart from some cool themes, it's mostly unremarkable filler that doesn't really stick out in any way, good or bad.
the gameplay is just a worse version of classic Sonic, sorry not sorry lol. the physics clearly try to emulate a Sonic feeling but it makes movement feel very off, like it's not right just ever so slightly, mostly in the momentum and jump. it's hard to explain why but it just doesn't feel very good to play.
the story is uninteresting and honestly kind of annoying, with the voice acting straight out of late 2000s Newgrounds, which I have no nostalgia for, so it comes off as very amateurish.
overall yeah not the worst time you could have, and while nothing special, I am interested in what improvements a sequel could bring.